At 3rd Opinion we treat people, not diseases.

As the father of modern medicine, Dr. William Osler, stated “It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has.”

Each person presents to the clinic with his or her own diet, lifestyle, psychosocial issues, environmental factors and genetic influences. At 3rd Opinion we try to understand these unique variables at a deep level. For us the question is not “What disease do you have?” but rather “Why would you have that disease?” These are very different questions and they lead to very different opportunities. As an example, if you carry a diagnosis of arthritis, the treatment is anti-arthritis medicine. If you ask the question “Why do you have arthritis?” it may lead to a fundamental understanding of your unique biochemistry.

Understanding your biochemistry can lead to unique solutions. If, as an example, we discover that you have an imbalance of essential fatty acids that is inflammatory, we may be able to rebalance the fats in your diet resulting in less inflammation. Understanding the influence your beliefs and thoughts, fears and wants combined with your diet, lifestyle and environmental issues have on your genetic expression is central to the work at 3rd Opinion.

Depending on environmental influences, completely different sets of genes are turned on and off. These changes are generally adaptive. But with chronic unhealthy influences such as stress, environmental toxins, poor dietary choices or any combination of other factors, these changes can become maladaptive. It is these maladaptive changes that, over time, lead to disease. By understanding the uniqueness within you, we are better able to optimize diet and lifestyle approaches for better health.

This type of medicine is called Functional Medicine. Dr. Sult is on faculty with the Institute of Functional Medicine located in Gig Harbor, Washington (www.functionalmedicine.org).